


The Half-Life of a Radioactive Spider

by ScarletWitch7



Series: The Half-Life of a Radioactive Spider [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Adoption, Amputation, Bomb, Explosions, Gen, Hurt Peter, Hurt Peter Parker, Major Character Injury, Major Ending Rewrite, May isn't the best person, Mom Pepper Potts, Poor Peter Parker, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Scared Peter Parker, Tony Stark Has A Heart, dad tony stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-12
Packaged: 2019-05-18 14:54:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 4,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14854895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarletWitch7/pseuds/ScarletWitch7
Summary: Peter's fight with the Vulture ends up with Peter more injured than he's ever been. He begins to heal, but the Vulture comes back to seek revenge on Tony Stark. What will Peter's life be like after losing almost everything?





	1. Beach Fight

**Author's Note:**

> This story begins during the beach fight in Spiderman Homecoming. He is a little more injured than the movie shows. (Okay, a lot more injured.) Hope you enjoy! Comment your thoughts and ideas below! - I See Fire Writer :)

Peter stumbled away from the burning wreck of the plane, his ears ringing from the crash. 

 

He looked around him, confused. 

 

Suddenly, the Vulture slammed into Peter, knocking him to the ground, hard. 

 

He tried to get up, his ribs aching in protest.

 

When he finally got into a standing position, he looked around at his surroundings. 

 

This time, he saw the Vulture coming. 

 

Ducking under the flying wingsuit, he rolled out of the way. 

 

Toomes was too fast and reversed quickly, shoving Peter to the sand. 

 

His claw like feet dug into Peter's chest, tearing through his makeshift suit. 

 

Peter cried out in pain, desperately trying to remove the claws as the villain slammed him into the sand repeatedly. 

 

The claws suddenly let go, leaving deep gashes across Peter's torso. He fell through the air, the terrifying rush of the wind slowing his fall by a millisecond, giving him enough time to shoot a web at the Vulture and come back up into the air above him, hitting the metal wing with surprising force. 

 

Peter hit the sand.

 

He flipped over to his back and coughed.

 

His ribs and chest throbbed, and his suit was bloody.

 

Peter saw Toomes come towards him again, but couldn't do anything as his body hit the ground over and over again.

 

He didn't roll over this time. His whole body screamed in pain, and blood filled his mouth. 

 

Peter hoped he had only bitten his cheek.

 

The Vulture's wing stabbed into the ground, snagging his hood and lifting him up. Peter was nearly unconscious. 

 

It was only a few seconds before he was dropped to the sand, staying there in fear and agony.

 

It was getting extremely hard to breathe. Peter hoped it was only the smoke.

 

He heard the villain take off and land with a clang. He raised his head only to see the man starting to take off with a container of precious cargo.

 

Peter grunted in pain as he slowly stood up. 

 

As the Vulture started to fly away, he noticed the man's wingsuit sparking with electricity.

 

Peter fired a web at the cargo, but the man cut it with his pointed wing. 

 

The wingsuit sparked brightly.

 

Peter dropped to the ground, covering his head.

 

BOOM.

 

Peter slowly pushed himself to his feet. "No." He said quietly, his voice hoarse. "NO!" He screamed this time, forcing himself to run to the villain's aid.

 

Fire licked at his suit, burning through it and aggravating his other injuries.

 

He lifted the mangled wingsuit off of the man, gasping when the burning hot metal touched his hand.

 

Peter collapsed to the ground next to him, resting before webbing up the man and the cargo around him. Then, he swung to the top of a rollercoaster to wait for Happy.

 

He passed out.


	2. Happy Arrives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy finds the remains of the plane and calls a very worried Tony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review in the comments!

Happy Hogan was having a rough night.

 

When he arrived at the beach, everything was on fire.

 

Everything.

 

Well, except for the pile of cargo in the middle of it all. They were covered in a weird sticky substance, and a person was stuck to it with a note:

 

Found: Flying Vulture Guy.

PS: Sorry about the plane. -Spiderman

 

Happy wanted to kick himself for not realizing sooner. The kid's friend wasn't lying, of course Peter would go after something like this!

 

He called Tony.

 

"Hey, Happy, please tell me the stuff is okay." Tony's exhausted voice filled his ear.

 

"Stuff's fine, Tony. The kid took care of all of it."

 

"The kid?" Tony was confused for a second before sighing. "Tell me we're not thinking of the same kid."

 

"Peter?"

 

"I swear, if that teenager gets into one more bit of trouble I'm telling his aunt." Tony said exasperatedly. "Where is he, I want to talk to him."

 

"I don't know."

 

"WHAT? HAVE YOU LOOKED FOR HIM?" Tony sounded worried and angry.

 

"No." Happy answered guiltily.

 

"Oh my god." 

 

Happy heard a mechanical whirring from the other end of the line. 

 

"What are you doing?"

 

"I'm going to look for him."


	3. Tony Finds Peter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony arrives at the scene and finds Peter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember to leave your thoughts in the comments!

Tony climbed into his suit. 

 

"F.R.I.D.A.Y, track Peter's suit."

 

"You took away his suit. It is offline." The AI's cheerful voice filled the suit. 

 

Tony swore.

 

"Track his phone." 

 

"His phone is also offline." 

 

Tony swore again. 

 

"Take me to the beach."

 

When he arrived, Happy's team was still there, so he didn't land. 

 

"Scan for Peter." 

 

Nothing on the ground.

 

Tony scanned everything around him, including the buildings and ocean.

 

No Peter.

 

"What have I not scanned?"

 

"The amusement park area." F.R.I.D.A.Y. answered.

 

"Might as well look."

 

Tony's heart leaped when he spotted Peter on top of a rollercoaster.

 

Flying closer, he noticed the kid wasn't moving.

 

"PETER!" 

 

When Tony landed next to him, Peter was unconscious and turned away from him. 

 

Tony turned the teen over and gasped at the sight of the kid's bruised face. 

 

He looked down and saw a pool of blood growing under him from the deep, long gashed on the boy's torso. 

 

Peter was barely breathing, and blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth.

 

"What happened to you?" Tony said in disbelief.

 

He scooped up Peter into his arms, his heart breaking at the kid's small whimper of pain. 

 

Tony called Happy.

 

"Have you found him yet?" Happy actually sounded concerned.

 

"Yes. Call Pepper and tell her to get the med-bay ready at the old tower, I know for a fact we didn't move the supplies out of there."

 

"Is he okay?" 

 

"No."


	4. Pepper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AN IMPORTANT NOTE: In this story, Bruce Banner never left in AOU, he came back with the rest of the team. He is visiting New York to help with the moving, and is in town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the reviews and kudos! I will keep updating throughout the week!

Pepper had just finished setting up the med room in the tower.

 

She wished Happy had told her what for, she would've gotten the right supplies out.

 

Hopefully Tony wasn't hurt.

 

She had called Bruce, just in case.

 

A thud sounded on the balcony near the med-bay.

 

Tony.

 

She ran out and screamed.

 

"OH MY GOD, WHAT HAPPENED?!"

 

Tony was holding a small boy in his arms.

 

A small boy that was bleeding.

 

Everywhere.

 

"Tony, who is that?" Pepper said, following the silent man as he ran to the room and laid the child on the bed.

 

"No time to explain." He said as he inserted an I.V into the kid. 

 

"F.R.I.D.A.Y, call Banner, see if he can get over here now."

 

"Dr. Banner is outside the door." Tony looked confused.

 

"I called him, I thought you were hurt."

 

"Thank god you did. I need his help." Tony said. 

 

Bruce stepped inside the room, the same confusion on his face as Tony had seconds before. It only took five seconds before he noticed the kid and got straight to work. 

 

Tony stood there in the suit, unmoving.

 

"Tony, you need to get out of the suit."

 

He startled and stepped out of the suit, as if he had just realized he was still inside of it. "Sorry, Pep." 

 

"I think we should go upstairs, alright?" Pepper said softly, noticing the foreign look of fear in his eyes as he watched Bruce work on the boy. 

 

Tony didn't answer.

 

Pepper gently took his arm and lead him out of the room.

 

He seemed numb, sitting down on the couch and burying his head in his hands.

 

"Tony." When he didn't answer, Pepper tried again. "TONY." 

 

He looked up, and the guilt showing in his eyes shocked Pepper. 

 

"Who is this kid?" She asked, needing to comfort him but not knowing how.

 

"Peter. Spider-Man."

 

"What? He's a kid?"

 

Tony nodded in affirmation. 

 

"How old is he?" Pepper asked quietly.

 

"15." Tony stood up. "God, he's 15. I LET A 15 YEAR OLD KID FIGHT CAPTAIN-AMERICA IN BERLIN! I LET A CHILD STOP A CRIMINAL FROM GETTING MY STUFF FROM THE MOVING PLANE! MY PLANE, PEPPER! I SHOULD'VE LISTENED TO HIM MORE! I SHOULD'VE BEEN THERE! I SHOULD'VE KNOWN THAT HE WOULD GO, WITH OR WITHOUT THE SUIT!" He sat down again. "I shouldn't have taken it away, Pep. I broke his heart. And he went anyway, trying to prove himself. Well, he did. But he shouldn't've had to. God, I messed up."

 

"It's not your fault." 

 

"Yes it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed Pepper's appearance in the story! She is awesome. And also, the truckload full of Tony angst.


	5. Seeing Peter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony sees Peter.

An hour later, Bruce had Peter stabilized.

 

Tony stepped into the med room.

 

He stumbled. 

 

"Oh my god." Pepper supplied the words for Tony.

 

Bruce saw their faces and walked out of the room. "I'll be upstairs if he needs anything, okay?"

 

Peter looked awful.

 

His face was pale and full of bruises that were slowly healing, and cuts that had closed up. He was unconscious, his eyes closed and one eye swollen. 

 

His ribs and torso were wrapped in a thick white bandage, and the edges of stitched up gashes could be seen where the bandage didn't fully cover them.

 

His breathing was mechanical, his chest rising up and down in a steady, unnatural rhythm.

 

Tony was terrified.

 

He may not have shown it, but he loved the kid as his own son.

 

He saw himself, a better version of himself in Peter, and now the boy was suffering the consequences of Tony's failure. 

 

His failure of protecting the kid. 

 

Tony sat down shakily next to the bed, Pepper's comforting hand on his shoulder.

 

"I'm so sorry." 

 

Tony finally broke down and cried.

 

Pepper was there for him the whole night.


	6. Happy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is super short, but the next one will be up soon!

The next day, Happy stopped by to see Peter.

 

Tony was still there, Pepper having gone to do her work in her old office, which still had a phone and computer.

 

Tony's eyes were exhausted, and he sat up straight when Happy walked in.

 

Even if he didn't show it much, Happy liked the kid.

 

He was a welcome change from the complicated days at work for Tony.

 

It was hard to see the normally energetic teenager look like this, almost dead in a hospital.

 

"Is he going to be okay?" 

 

"We hope so." Tony's voice was raw-sounding, as if he had been crying. 

 

Happy didn't blame him. 

 

Peter was like Tony's son.

 

And Tony hadn't protected him.

 

But he had tried.

 

That was all that mattered, even if Tony didn't realize that.


	7. Waking Up (Almost)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave reviews and your thoughts below! Another shortish chapter, but I'll keep posting!

Peter heard voices. 

 

He tried to move his hand, to open his eyes.

 

He only succeeded in gripping the blanket underneath him.

 

"Peter?" A scratchy voice asked.

 

Everything hurt. 

 

He was so tired.

 

"Peter, please wake up."

 

Was that... Mr. Stark?

 

He moved his head a tiny fraction of an inch.

 

"Come on kid, that's it." 

 

Happy was here too?

 

Peter cracked his eyes open, seeing Mr. Stark leaning over him. 

 

"Hey bud." 

 

Peter wanted to talk, but a strange pain in his throat stopped him.

 

"I know you can't talk, the machine is helping you breathe, kid."

 

Peter tried to stay awake, but exhaustion and pain took over, and he couldn't help falling into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you are enjoying this story!


	8. Waking Up (Actually)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter wakes up. But he's not safe.

When Peter woke up, Pepper and Tony were next to his bed.

 

Pepper was reading a thick book, and Tony was asleep, slumped over in his chair.

 

He tried to speak, as the breathing machine was gone. 

 

But he couldn't speak. 

 

His throat was raw from the smoke he had inhaled.

 

He tried to move, his whole body aching. 

 

His muscles wouldn't cooperate.

 

Peter ended up grunting in pain, startling Pepper so bad that she dropped her book. 

 

"You're awake! What do you need, are you feeling okay?"

 

Again, Peter tried and failed to speak.

 

"I'll get you some water."

 

Peter's throat allowed him to speak, and he asked, "What happened?". His voice was hoarse and raw.

 

"You don't remember?" 

 

Peter concentrated hard. 

 

The beach.

 

Homecoming. 

 

"The Vulture."

 

"Yes, he's in prison now. You don't need to worry about him anymore." Pepper said gently. 

 

"Was he okay?"

 

"Yeah, you saved him, Peter." Pepper smiled. 

 

"Is Mr. Stark okay?" 

 

"He's just tired."

 

As if on cue, Tony stirred.

 

His eyes cracked open, then widened as he saw Peter's brown eyes staring at him.

 

"Hey kid. How are you doing?" His eyes were full of an emotion Peter couldn't really place.

 

"I've been better." Peter said a little bit jokingly, trying to make Mr. Stark laugh.

 

He chuckled, but his voice was serious when he spoke again. "I'm sorry, Peter."

 

Seeing Peter's confused face, he rushed to explain. "For all of it. Taking the suit, not believing you." 

 

"I forgive you, Mr. Stark."

 

"Thanks kid." 

 

Just then, Tony's phone rang. 

 

"What is it Happy?''

 

"The Vulture escaped from prison, he's headed to the tower. I don't know how, but he knows you're there."

 

"Oh my god." 

 

"TONY, HE'S THERE, YOU NEED TO.... LOCKDOWN.....TON-" Happy's call was cut off abruptly.

 

"Pepper, get in front of him, move him to the back of the room NOW!" Tony shouted, his Iron Man suit already around him. He started towards the door.

 

"What's happening?" Peter asked, his voice terrified.

 

Just then, the door was smashed to pieces. 

 

There, in front of them, stood Adrian Toomes in full, updated wingsuit. 

 

"Hello, Stark."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And a cliffhanger! (evil laughter)


	9. The Bomb

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of the reviews and kudos! Leave your thoughts down below, and please, don't swear. I am trying to keep my fanfics family friendly, even in the comments! :)

"Hello Stark." The Vulture said, sneering at Pepper and Tony, who blocked Peter from view.

 

"What's that behind you? A project, a new weapon that can blow us all to- Ohhhhh, I see now. That's a hospital bed." Toomes chuckled creepily, showing a dark smile. "I wonder..... Who's injured this time?"

 

He took a threatening step forward, causing Pepper to shift her feet in fear.

 

Tony's mask flipped up, showing his enraged face. "You don't need to know."

 

"Hmmm, let me take a guess." He paced back and forth, thinking. "Colonel Rhodes? Is it him? No. Someone closer to you? Maybe your glorified butler Happy Hogan? Or, is it one of your pals from S.H.I.E.L.D? Perhaps, an Avenger?" 

 

It was Tony who took a step forwards this time. 

 

That was a mistake.

 

The step gave the Vulture a full and unblocked view of the terrified face of Peter Parker.

 

He looked shocked for a few seconds. 

 

"The Spider-Kid? I thought you would've healed by now, seeing as I failed to kill you. You know, I was actually starting to like you. Well, you did save me..."

 

"Stop. Get out of the tower, or I will not hesitate to burn a hole straight into your armor through to your heart." Tony's voice was low and threatening. 

 

Pepper looked at him in surprise, but looked as if to agree with him. 

 

"Fine. As you wish." Toomes smirked, running towards the door and smashing through a window. 

 

His head came back in a few seconds later. "I suppose I should give you what I came to give you. Goodbye, Stark." He tossed in a glowing purple device. 

 

It had a timer.

 

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5.

 

"GET DOWN!" Tony yelled, grabbing Pepper to his chest and running towards Peter.

 

4, 3, 2.

 

He couldn't reach him in time.

 

1\. 

 

BOOM.

 

The med-room crumbled around them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I will be updating a lot, so keep checking in!


	10. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the kind of cliffhanger I left on the last chapter, but at least I posted soon after! :)

Smoke and dust filled the room after the explosion.

 

Scorch marks could be seen on the ceiling, and the few not glass walls around them had mostly crumbled. The glass had shattered. 

 

Pepper looked around her to see darkness. Oh god, she was trapped under rubble. 

 

Suddenly, a mechanical whirring sounded above her, along with a pained grunt. 

 

Tony. 

 

He had shielded her from the rubble crushing her.

 

"Tony?" She asked, her voice shaky.

 

The rubble shifted above her. 

 

She saw light.

 

Tony lifted the rest of the concrete from them and stood. "Pep, you okay?"

 

"Yeah." She stood up, coughing. "Are you?"

 

"I'm-" Tony coughed, clutching his ribs even though he was still in the damaged suit. 

 

He collapsed.

 

"TONY!" Pepper screamed, running to him and desperately trying to wake him. 

 

It was then that she noticed the mangled hospital bed in the back of the collapsed room.

 

Peter.

 

Pepper left Tony and stumbled over to the pile of rubble.

 

She saw red staining a beam.

 

There was a small hand peeking out of a pile of the concrete and shattered glass. 

 

"PETER!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think? (For those of you wondering what the bomb was, it was multiple Chitauri power cores connected to a detonator. Remember the purple glowy thingy? This was about eight of those that exploded in one powerful blast.)


	11. Pepper Sees Peter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for severe leg injury. Not graphic at all, just wanted to warn you.

The pile was easy enough to get off of Peter, as the rubble on top of him was mostly small pieces. 

 

Well, except for the beam crushing some of his lower half that Pepper couldn't move. 

 

Peter's face had a shallow cut stretched across it. 

 

His stitches had reopened, blood staining his bandages, and his chest was barely moving.

 

The most worrying part of his injuries was what the beam had done to him. 

 

She couldn't even see all of it, but she knew it was bad. 

 

There was a lot of blood.

 

"HELP! PLEASE! SOMEBODY!" 

 

Pepper screamed until her voice was hoarse.

 

Finally, someone answered.

 

"PEPPER!" 

 

It was Happy.

 

"WE'RE COMING!"

 

Pepper collapsed against the one still standing wall in relief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How are you guys liking the story so far? Review your thoughts down below if you would like! :)


	12. Happy Helps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Severe leg injury warning, still not graphic.

Happy raced into the tower. 

 

His heart stopped when he saw the hallway to the med room, where he knew Tony, Pepper, and Peter would probably be.

 

The 

 

"HELP! PLEASE! SOMEBODY!"

 

"PEPPER!" Happy shouted back while running towards the crumbled room.

 

"WE'RE COMING!"

 

Happy ran into the room about a minute ahead of the med-team. 

 

"Oh my god."

 

He saw Pepper leaning against a wall, coughing.

 

"Are you okay?" 

 

"Yeah, but-" She coughed again. "Peter and Tony. They need help."

 

Happy looked around him, seeing the Iron Man suit on the floor, damaged. He assumed that was Tony, but where was Peter-

 

OH.

 

Happy jogged towards the small body he saw in the corner near Pepper.

 

Peter was barely breathing, and blood soaked his bandages and lower half, which was covered by a beam.

 

The team ran in behind him and got to work.

 

"3,2,1, lift!" Most of the team ran over to help lift the beam off of Peter.

 

One ran to Pepper to help her, and two went to get Tony out of the armor, which Pepper and Happy had to help with.

 

When the suit was taken off of Tony, they were met by an unconscious Tony, whose chest was rising and falling slightly.

 

They rushed him away on a stretcher.

 

Suddenly, Happy heard the med-team gasp.

 

The beam was off of Peter. 

 

Happy ran over to see him.

 

His breath hitched in his throat and nausea rose up in him.

 

Peter's leg.....

 

Pepper ran over to him and he immediately grabbed her and shielded her from the sight.

 

The team was shouting at each other...

 

It didn't sound good.

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

An hour later....

 

Pepper and Happy sat numbly in a large room in the ICU, where Tony had been stabilized and put in a medical coma to heal. 

 

There was another bed in the other half of the room.

 

For Peter.

 

If he made it through surgery. 

 

The beam had completely shattered his lower left leg.

 

The leg had been damaged beyond repair, and needed to be amputated.

 

They wouldn't've been able to save it if they tried.

 

Peter's condition was only made worse by his previous injuries, which were also severe.

 

There was a chance he wouldn't make it through the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope that you all are enjoying this story! :)


	13. Tony Wakes Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony wakes up and finds out about Peter. He's not happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a while. I've been super busy and the only ones I have been able to post were the ones I could type quickly on my phone.
> 
> Note: Peter made it out of surgery by the time of this chapter.

Tony awoke to the beeping of a heart rate monitor.

His head was throbbing and his ribs and chest screamed in pain, but he fought to stay awake. 

Opening his eyes, he saw a hospital room full of machines.

Pepper and Happy were next to him. 

"Hey." He said, hating how weak his voice sounded.

"Hi Tony. How do you feel?" Pepper smiled at him, but it seemed sad.

"Fine. What's wrong?" 

"It's Peter." 

Tony looked to the side and saw another bed.

Peter was in it.

He looked dead, with all of the bandages covering him and the machine making him breathe.

"He's in a coma." Pepper said. 

"Is he going to wake up?"

"We hope so. If he doesn't wake up this week, we'll know something is seriously wrong." 

"Okay. Did anything else happen to him?"

Pepper hesitated. 

"What?"

No answer.

"TELL ME!"

"His leg was shattered in the explosion. It was... damaged beyond repair."

'No.' Tony thought with dread.

"They couldn't save it."

"No."

"I'm sor-" 

"NO!" Tony screamed in frustration.

"Tony-" Pepper said, backing away.

"I WAS SUPPOSED TO PROTECT HIM!" 

"It's not your-"

"NOT MY FAULT?! IS THAT WHAT YOU WERE GOING TO SAY?!"

Pepper nodded.

"IT IS MY FAULT! I DIDN'T GET TO HIM, I SHOULD'VE THOUGHT MORE! I DIDN'T THINK HE WOULD HAVE A BOMB! I SHOULD'VE BEEN SMARTER!" 

"Calm down, please." Happy said, trying to help.

"I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!" 

Pepper injected something into his IV line. 

He fell into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Today is another speedy update day, so stay tuned for more chapters! :) 
> 
> PS- Sorry if they are super short, some of them need to be separated and that makes them short.


	14. Peter Wakes Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two days later...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> May will come into this story in the next chapter, and, as you can see in the notes, she is definitely not like herself in the movie. Just giving you some warning before the next chapter shocks you! :0 :)

Peter drifted in and out of consciousness, hearing voices chattering faintly, as if he was underwater.

 

Suddenly, every sound became sharp and clear, and he could move. 

 

His left leg had a weird detached feeling.

 

He opened his eyes to see Pepper's face above him. 

 

Her eyes were full of tears, and he could see she had been crying.

"Peter?"

 

"Hi." His voice was small and his throat hurt.

 

"Oh thank god." 

 

Peter was confused. "Where's-"

 

"He's right next to you. He's just sleeping. Don't worry."

 

Peter saw Tony in the bed near him, with a blanket covering him.

 

"What happened?"

 

"You went into a coma after the blast. Your previous injuries were reopened, but we were able to get them stitched again with out any difficulties." Pepper finished, but Peter could tell she was hiding something from him.

 

"Why does my leg feel weird?" Peter suspected that had something to do with it.

 

"You, well," Pepper took a deep breath. "A beam fell on you. It shattered your lower left leg, and, um, we couldn't save it. It was amputated."

 

Peter sat numbly, shock evident in his gaze. 

 

Tears began to roll down his face.

 

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry." 

 

She hugged Peter to her chest as he sobbed, mumbling apologies and promises that it would be okay.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Later in the day, Peter calmed down.

 

Tony woke up, and they chatted a bit before Tony asked him how he was feeling. 

 

"Fine."

 

"I'll make something special for you at the new lab. It'll be just like a normal leg, or it can be really cool with lots of features, I promise, you'll be able to go back to Spider-Manning-"

 

"Thank you."

 

"For what?" Tony seemed shocked. 

 

"For everything." 

 

"Kid, it's my fault you're in a hospital bed missing part of your leg. You have nothing to thank me for." 

 

"Yes I do. The suit, saving my life, helping me out when I needed it most." Peter sighed. "You and Pepper, even Happy, have been like family to me. I really needed that." 

 

"Thanks, kid." Tony still looked shocked at the kindness and trust of the teenager.

 

Peter's eyes got wide.

 

"What is it?" 

 

"May. Have you called her?"

 

Tony swore. 

 

"Language." Peter chuckled, then continued. "I'm guessing that's a no."

 

He sat back. "God, she's gonna be so mad. She doesn't know yet!" 

 

"You're right. I'll get Pepper." 

 

Tony ran to get Pepper.

 

If he knew what was going to happen next, he never would've taken May to see Peter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you are all still interested! :) I like Pepper as Peter's mother figure, I think it's really sweet. :)


	15. May

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> May finds out and she's extremely upset with Peter. Sorry about the total out of character behavior, but it is central to the plot! :) Hope you are still enjoying this story, I seriously hope I'm not messing it up. 
> 
> PS- She still loves Peter, just is not over everything and is really stressed. (That doesn't make up for her actions, just telling you guys that.)

May was furious. 

 

It had been two weeks since she had seen Peter, and she had thought he was missing or dead.

 

She had called about a million police stations all throughout New England.

 

She stormed into the hospital room, running to Peter.

 

"Hey May." 

 

"YOU'VE BEEN GONE FOR TWO WEEKS AND YOU'RE IN A HOSPITAL! WHAT HAPPENED!" May looked awful, bags under her eyes and hair tangled. 

 

"Well, um..." 

 

Pepper interrupted. "You're nephew has been with Tony and I at the Stark tower, well, for the first four days at least."

 

"Why?" May asked suspiciously. "He lost the internship."

 

Tony sighed. "We've gotta tell her Peter. Do you want to or do you want me to do it?" 

 

"Tell me what?"

 

Peter looked scared, so Tony continued.

 

"He's Spiderman." 

 

"Yeah." 

 

May stood there for a second, trying to process the information. "Is that why you've been gone?" 

 

Her voice was low and quiet.

 

"yeah." Peter said, his voice small.

 

"You could've been killed."

 

"I know."

 

"You're hurt, aren't you? How did that happen?"

 

"Well um, I was fighting this guy on a plane, and um.."

 

"He ended up crashing the plane on the beach and got beat up by him." Tony said for him.

 

"Why are you hurt?"

 

"The bomb at the tower hit the med bay. I was in there with Peter and Pepper. It just made his injuries worse, and he woke up yesterday from a short coma." Tony explained.

 

"Peter. I can't believe you. Do you know how worried I've been?"

 

"I'm sorry-" 

 

"Don't apologize. Sorry won't fix this!" May snapped.

 

"I know." Peter sounded like he was about to cry.

 

"May." Tony said her name like a warning.

 

"I've tried to take care of you all of your life! I didn't ask for you! You were dropped at my doorstep!"

 

Peter flinched.

 

"I had no idea how to take care of a kid! I didn't want one! Ever since Ben died it's been even harder for me! And now you go off and almost get yourself killed! I give up, Peter!"

 

"W-What do you mean?" Peter asked timidly, his voice shaking.

 

"I QUIT! OKAY?!" May screamed.

 

Peter's eyes widened, pools of tears threatening to fall.

 

"I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE!" 

 

She turned to Tony. "The papers will be in tomorrow." 

 

She walked out, leaving Peter sobbing and Tony sitting in shock in his bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! :) :) :) :) :)
> 
> Your support is worth a lot, so thank you guys so much!


	16. Adoption

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of the first part. Thank you for reading!

May had revoked her adoption papers, officially handing Peter over to the system.

 

He was still in the hospital healing.

 

When Pepper told Tony, he was furious.

 

"WE CAN'T JUST LEAVE HIM TO THE SYSTEM, PEPPER! I DON'T WANT HIM TO GO THROUGH THAT!" Tony yelled, putting his head in his hands.

 

"I know, Tony, but what are we supposed to do?" Pepper retorted, stress in her voice.

 

"Let's take him." 

 

"What?" 

 

"Adopt him. He has nowhere else to go, and he said that we're like his family, and I've always wanted a son-"

 

"Tony, are you sure?" Pepper wanted to adopt Peter too, but she wasn't sure that they were the right fit, with all of their busy schedule.

 

"We have to. The system will break him, I can't let that happen." Tony said with certainty.

 

"Okay, but it's very complicated, Tony. We have to be approved, there's a million papers for that, and we have to take custody-"

 

"It'll be fine. We have the full rest of the day and tonight, plus, I'm Tony Stark, we'll get it done." 

 

"I'll get the papers to you. We have a lot of work to do." 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Peter woke up to the smell of chocolate.

 

He breathed in the scent deeply and opened his eyes to see Tony slumped in a chair next to Pepper, who was texting someone. 

 

She put her phone down and smiled, her eyes tired but happy.

 

"What's up? Who got pancakes?" Peter asked.

 

Overnight, he had stopped crying and overheard Pepper and Tony's conversation. 

 

He hoped that it was true.

 

"Tony brought you the pancakes. He wanted to celebrate with a good breakfast and not the awful hospital food, according to him." Pepper said, smiling.

 

"It's true!" Tony said, having been woke up by their conversation.

 

"Thanks, but what are we celebrating?" 

 

"I guess I have explain. And ask you a question."

 

"What?"

 

"Would you like to stay with Pepper and I? Like, as your home?"

 

Seeing Peter's shocked expression, Tony continued.

 

"It's fine if you don't want to-"

 

"You would want me?" Peter interrupted hopefully.

 

"Of course we want you! I have all of the papers signed, we got approved last night, we just need to make it official-"

 

"Thank you Mr. Stark!!!!" Peter said, hugging Tony.

 

"Your welcome kid. Call me Tony."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the story!
> 
> PS- I probably got so many things wrong in the process of adoption, so sorry about the inaccuracies! I definitely didn't research it, I know it takes way longer than one day!


End file.
